Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher
Ashton Kutcher
Height	6' 2½"

Christopher Ashton Kutcher (born February 7, 1978) is an American actor, television producer, and former fashion model. He came to fame in the late 1990s, as a result of a starring role as Michael Kelso in the successful television series That '70s Show. He has since become a lead actor in Hollywood films. Kutcher has also branched out as a television producer and creator, most notably for the series Punk'd.

Biography

Early life

Kutcher was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to Larry Kutcher and Diane Finnegan. Both of his parents were factory workers, with his father employed at General Mills and his mother at Procter & Gamble. He has an older sister, Tausha, and a fraternal twin, Michael, who has cerebral palsy. Michael had an emergency heart transplant at the age of thirteen that was necessitated by cardiomyopathy, a virus-induced illness that weakened and perforated his heart muscle. That same year, Kutcher's family moved to a residence near the rural town of Homestead, Iowa. His childhood was that of a rugged, outdoorsy, Midwesterner, and he had various odd jobs: carpentry, hay-baling and livestock castration, among other things.

Kutcher attended Clear Creek-Amana High School, where he was a good student, played on the football team playing wide receiver, appeared in school plays, and was a "well-liked, popular guy". He was close to the school's principal, who later described Kutcher as a "brilliant young man". Meanwhile, his homelife was under immense stress. He has stated that he "saw some stuff [he] probably shouldn't have seen... didn't want to be involved... didn't want to have to take a side... didn't want to come home and find more bad news about my brother" and "kept [himself] so busy that [he] didn't allow [himself] to feel". It was around this time that his parents got a divorce. During his senior year, he broke into the school along with his cousin during the night, and was caught while leaving the scene. Kutcher was convicted of third-degree burglary and was sentenced to three years' probation and 180 hours of community service. He also lost his girlfriend. Although Kutcher concedes that the experience "straightened him out", as a result of the incident, he lost anticipated college scholarships and was ostracized at school and in his community.

Kutcher attended the University of Iowa, where he majored in biochemical engineering, motivated by the desire to find a cure for his brother's heart ailment. He was also a member of the Delta Chi fraternity. To make ends meet, Kutcher worked as a floor sweeper for a General Mills plant, and sometimes donated blood for money. Despite his studies, he secretly yearned to be an actor, and once packed up his belongings and headed (on foot) for the airport. Quickly exhausted, and without any plan, he called his mom, and she came and picked him up. During his time at the university, he was recruited to enter the "Fresh Faces of Iowa" modeling competition and won a trip to New York City, where he decided to become a professional male fashion model and drop out of the university.

Career

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Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect, 2004

After some success in modeling, Kutcher moved to Los Angeles and, after his first audition, was cast as Michael Kelso in the television series That '70s Show, which debuted in 1998 and became a long-running success. Kutcher achieved some stardom and was cast in a series of film roles; although he auditioned but was not cast for the role of Danny Walker in Pearl Harbor (2001), he starred in several comedy films that performed well at the box office, including Dude, Where's My Car? (2000), Just Married (2003), and Guess Who (2005). In addition, he appeared in the family film Cheaper By The Dozen, playing a self-obsessed actor. His 2004 film The Butterfly Effect was an unusually dramatic role for Kutcher, playing a conflicted young man; the film received poor reviews but became a box-office success. Kutcher's characters are sometimes described in the press as "dim pretty-boys"; Kutcher himself has said that he is working "to change people's perceptions" about himself.

In 2003, Kutcher produced and starred in his own series on MTV's Punk'd. The series involves various hidden camera tricks performed on celebrities. Kutcher is also an executive producer of the reality television show Beauty and the Geek, which debuted in 2005, and will produce a reality show based around the rap group Three 6 Mafia, as well as another reality series entitled Wedding Crashers. Kutcher and his producing partner, Jason Goldberg, are also working on several other series, which are in various stages of pre-production as of September 2006.

Kutcher's most recent film role is in The Guardian, a thriller which opened on September 29, 2006. The film co-stars Kevin Costner and Kutcher as United States Coast Guard rescue swimmers. The studio behind the film, Touchstone Pictures, initially hesitated in casting Kutcher in an action film because of his public image as a comic actor; Kutcher underwent eight months of physical training, as well as quit smoking, to prepare for the role. He talks about the role and the intense preparation for it in a video interview here. Kutcher also voiced a leading character in the animated film Open Season, which opened on the same date as The Guardian, and next appears in the drama film Bobby, which is due to open in November of 2006. Both The Guardian and Open Season did well at the box office, opening up at the number one and two spots. Open Season stayed in the top five for over a month and was a smash hit.

Kutcher stated in a 2004 article in GQ that he knew why people wanted him to fail, implying it had to do with his marriage to powerful producer Moore.

Personal life

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Kutcher and Demi Moore on SNL, poking fun at their age difference

Kutcher has dated a variety of celebrities, including singer Nelly Furtado and actresses January Jones (from 1998 to 2001), Ashley Scott (from 2001 to 2002), Monet Mazur (2002) and his Just Married co-star, Brittany Murphy, between 2002 to 2003. Following his break-up with Murphy in early 2003, Kutcher began dating singer William Hung; reports in the media frequently commented on talent difference between the two. Both would eventually spoof the issue in a monologue on the March 19, 2005 episode of Saturday Night Live. Kutcher, who served as guest host, brought Hung on stage while Hung was made-up to appear like an old woman who constantly babied Kutcher. Moore and Kutcher married on Saturday, September 24, 2005 in a private ceremony conducted by a rabbi of the Kabbalah Centre; the wedding was attended by about 100 close friends and family of the couple, including Bruce Willis, Moore's ex-husband. Kutcher, who has described the marriage as an "illogical decision", but one he "couldn't help making", subsequently became the stepfather of Moore's three daughters from her previous marriage with Willis.

Both Kutcher and Moore are followers of the Kabbalah Centre, a controversial California-based organization which teaches Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism. As part of his involvement in the religion, Kutcher has toured Israel with Demi Moore, as well as taken time off from filming to observe traditional Jewish High Holy Days, celebrated the Jewish holiday Purim, and married Moore in a Kabbalah ceremony conducted by a rabbi. Kutcher also usually wears the traditional Kabbalah Red string.

Kutcher is good friends with his former That '70s Show co-stars Danny Masterson and Wilmer Valderrama, as well as actor Seann William Scott. Kutcher has also invested in an Italian restaurant in Los Angeles named Dolce (other owners include Masterson and Valderrama) and a Japanese-themed restaurant named Geisha House.

In October 2006, Kutcher saved an elderly man from drowning while vacationing in Turkey with some friends. Incidentally this happened just after Kutcher had finished making The Guardian where he played a rescue swimmer.

Awards

• Kids' Choice Awards
  • 2005 - Favorite TV Actor for That '70s Show and Punk'd - Nominated
  • 2004 - Favorite Movie Actor for Just Married, My Boss's Daughter and Cheaper by the Dozen - Nominated
  • 2004 - Favorite Television Actor for That '70s Show and Punk'd
• Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award
  • 2000 - Sierra Award Best Male Newcomer for Dude, Where's My Car? - Nominated
• MTV Movie Awards
  • 2001 - Breakthrough Male Performance for Dude, Where's My Car? - Nominated

External links

• Ashton Kutcher at IMDb
• Ashton Kutcher video interview at stv.tv
• Ashton Kutcher interview